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Your home, your community and your rights

PostedTuesday, 11 April 2017
by Rose Sudnik

Johnnie Johnson residents reflect the diversity of the local community and within our properties we have residents of differing sex, racial origin, sexual orientation, age and religious belief; some will be able bodied and others with disabilities. We expect all our residents to respect one another, their beliefs and their lifestyles and to live in the community without causing a nuisance or harassment to others. We will take action against any form of anti-social behaviour or harassment by, or to, any of our residents. We expect all residents to respect their neighbours and behave in a way that will not disturb their lifestyles.

Your rights and responsibilities

Tenancies starting prior to 15 January 1989 are likely to be secure tenancies, but most of our residents will have an assured tenancy (or starter tenancy). Secure residents have very similar rights as assured residents except in relation to how rents are set. A small number of residents will have been granted assured shorthold tenancies where your rights will be slightly different. You will have been advised of these rights at the start of your tenancy but if you need to check any of the details please refer to your tenancy agreement or contact your Neighbourhood Housing Officer.

You are responsible for:

Paying your weekly rent and service charge four weeks in advance

Living in the property as your main/principal home and not to assign or sub-let the whole property

Keeping the home and garden in good order, and internal decoration

Making good any damage and reporting repairs

Not overcrowding the property

Allowing access for repairs or the welfare of residents in our Independent Living properties

Advising us if you leave the property for 28 days or more

Respecting your neighbours and not causing nuisance or harassment

Not using the property for any illegal or improper activities

Obtaining written permission from us if you need or want to do any of the following:

Keep a pet

Put up a satellite dish

Carry out a business from the property

Carry out repairs/improvements

Leaving the property in good condition

Giving us four weeks’ notice when you plan to move

For further information please refer to your tenancy agreement.

For leaseholders

The lease outlines the main responsibilities of the landlord and of the leaseholder(s). All leases will vary and your Leasehold Officer will be able to provide you with details of individual costs included within your service charge and sinking fund contributions.

Examples of details and variations of your lease are:

A description and outline plan of the property, defining the boundaries and areas you are responsible for

Definitions of your scheme and your block or building, these are important, since any applicable service charge will be based on them

Rent and/or service charges you must pay

How and when the rent and service charges are reviewed

Items that may be included with your service charges including the types of services that will be provided

Whether or not you are required to contribute to a sinking fund and if so how this will be paid. Some leases allow for collection of the sinking fund contribution as part of the annual service charge calculation and in others, is collected when the property is re-sold

The length of the lease. If it is a new lease it may run for 99 or 125 years. If it is an assignable lease it will start from the date the first owner bought the property. If this took place 15 years ago and the lease is 99 years, there will be 84 years left of the lease

Details of the full market value of the property and the amount you have to pay depending on the share you are purchasing. This could range from 25% to 100% depending on how much is being sold and the age group the property has been built for. At most leasehold schemes for the elderly the maximum equity share you can purchase is 70%.

Details of rights, such as rights to use shared area

Details of when and why staff can come into your home

Information about maintaining the scheme, block or building as well as the interior of your home

The rights and responsibilities of the landlord

Your rights and responsibilities as the leaseholder

The rights to end the lease in certain circumstances

Rent - it is likely that you will have to pay a monthly rent if your share is 25% or 50% (and possibly 75% if the property is for general sale and not specifically for the elderly). The lease will indicate if you need to pay rent and your solicitor will confirm the amount, payment method etc. We will also provide you with this information

Information about ground rent - this varies from property to property. The lease will indicate if you need to pay a ground rent on your home. This is normally paid within the service charge. Your solicitor will confirm your obligation

Your home, your handbook

This is the digital version of Your home, your handbook, the Johnnie Johnson resident handbook. You can view a list of all the articles, or you can use the search field to search the entire book. Alternatively, using the categories listed, you can find relating articles about topics relevant to you.